Shloka 19
Ārjava, Satya, and the Virocana–Sudhanvan Exemplum
Udyoga-parva 35
न श्रद्दधाति कल्याण परेभ्योडप्यात्मशड्कित: । निराकरोति मित्राणि यो वै सो5धमपूरुष:
na śraddadhāti kalyāṇaṃ parebhyo 'py ātmaśaṅkitaḥ | nirākaroti mitrāṇi yo vai so 'dhamapūruṣaḥ ||
जो स्वतःवर शंका असल्यामुळे इतरांकडूनही कल्याण होईल असा विश्वास ठेवत नाही आणि मित्रांनाही दूर लोटतो—तो निश्चयच अधम पुरुष आहे.
हंस उवाच
Educational Q&A
Self-distrust can harden into distrust of others and the rejection of friends; such a disposition is ethically blameworthy because it blocks receptivity to good and undermines social bonds essential to dharma.
In a didactic exchange within Udyoga Parva, the Haṃsa delivers a moral judgment: a person who suspects himself cannot trust even others’ goodwill and therefore drives away friends; this is presented as a mark of a degraded character.